150 Years of Service To Our CommunityPrint Page

The plaque commemorates the 150th anniversary of the service to the community by Bendigo Hospital (now Bendigo Health Care Group) which was established in 1853. The old mortuary was restored with a grant from Heritage Victoria as part of the sesquicentenary celebrations. 

In 1853 a slab and weatherboard building was built on ‘Hospital Hill’, and the Bendigo Gold District General Hospital was born. The hospital lasted just six years before it switched to a larger site near Arnold Street, where hospital buildings remain today.  

Austere times in the 1870s and 1880s slowed down development at the new hospital, which relied heavily on community generosity.  By 1883, 1195 inpatients were admitted, with a daily average of 127. Almost half of the expenditure of the hospital was raised by the local community through events like the Easter Fair and Hospital Sunday, among others. The Easter Fair was established in 1871 to fundraise for the hospital and the Bendigo Benevolent Asylum.

Over the years, government support for the hospital has strengthened, but fundraising links between the community and the hospital remain. The Bendigo Health Foundation Charitable Trust, established in 1991, facilitates this link and governs donations totalling around $1 million each year.

In 1995 Bendigo hospital, the Anne Caudle Centre and the Bendigo Psychiatric centre merged to form Bendigo Health. 

 

Location

Address:	15 Stewart Street, The Old Mortuary, Bendigo Health Care Group, Bendigo, 3550
State:	VIC
Area:	AUS
GPS Coordinates:	Lat: -36.747437 Long: 144.282352 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.

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Details

Monument Type:	Plaque
Monument Theme:	Government
Sub-Theme:	State
Approx. Event Start Date:	1853
Approx. Event End Date:	2003

Dedication

Approx. Monument Dedication Date:	2003

Source: MA